How to Order New License Plates in Texas: Fees and Steps

To order new license plates in Texas, you go through the Texas Department of Motor Vehicles (TxDMV): general-issue plates come with vehicle registration at your county tax assessor-collector’s office, while specialty and personalized plates are ordered online through TxDMV’s state-sponsored program or through My Plates, the state’s authorized vendor. Standard registration runs $50.75 plus local county fees, and specialty plates add their own annual charge on top.

Plate Types You Can Order

General-issue plates are the default. When you register a vehicle, TxDMV assigns the number and issues a set of “The Texas Classic” plates, the standard design since 2012.¹ You cannot personalize a general-issue number.

If you want a university, sports team, cause, or military design, or you want to pick your own letters and numbers, you’re looking at a specialty plate. Annual pricing depends on where you order and how customized the plate is:

State-sponsored background only: starting at $30 per year
State-sponsored personalized (up to 6 characters): starting at $70 per year
My Plates background only: $50 per year
My Plates personalized (up to 6 characters): $150 per year
My Plates 7-letter personalized: $195 per year

Three- and five-year terms are available for most designs at a discount.² Every specialty or personalized fee is in addition to your standard registration cost.

Military and Veteran Plates

Texas offers dozens of military-related designs, and several carry fee waivers. Disabled veteran plates cost $3 per year for the specialty fee, and the holder pays zero registration and local fees on one vehicle.³ A limited set of meritorious service plates also waive registration and local fees on one vehicle.⁴

What to Have Ready Before You Order

Whether you’re registering for the first time or ordering a specialty design for a vehicle you already own, pull these together first:

Vehicle Identification Number (VIN), make, model, and year
Your current plate number, if the vehicle is already registered
Proof of insurance meeting Texas minimums: $30,000 per person for bodily injury, $60,000 per accident, and $25,000 for property damage⁵
A valid Texas driver’s license or state ID
Proof of ownership for a new registration or title transfer — the vehicle title or Manufacturer’s Certificate of Origin⁶
A completed Application for Texas Title and/or Registration (Form 130-U) for first-time registration or a title transfer, available at any county tax office or on the TxDMV website⁷

Texas ended mandatory safety inspections for non-commercial vehicles on January 1, 2025.⁸ Emissions inspections are still required annually before you can register a vehicle in 17 counties: Brazoria, Collin, Dallas, Denton, El Paso, Ellis, Fort Bend, Galveston, Harris, Johnson, Kaufman, Montgomery, Parker, Rockwall, Tarrant, Travis, and Williamson.⁹ Bexar County joins the list on November 1, 2026.¹⁰ Results go to a state database and are verified automatically when you register.

Fees to Expect

The base registration fee for a car or light truck is $50.75, plus a $1 TexasSure insurance verification fee. Your county adds local charges that can range from $0 to $31.50: up to $10 for a road and bridge fund, and up to $20 more in counties funding long-term transportation projects.⁶ Specialty and personalized plate charges layer on top of all of that.

Ordering Standard Plates at the County Office

First-time registrations and title transfers have to be handled in person at your county tax assessor-collector’s office.¹¹ New residents have 30 days from moving to Texas to register the vehicle.¹² Bring your out-of-state title or registration, proof of insurance, a valid ID, and a completed Form 130-U.¹³ If you’re in an emissions county, get your inspection first.

General-issue plates and your registration sticker are issued at the counter. If you decide at the same visit to order a specialty or personalized design, that plate is processed separately and mailed to you later.

Ordering Specialty or Personalized Plates Online

Specialty and personalized plates are ordered through My Plates or through TxDMV’s state-sponsored plate program, not at the counter. You pick a design, reserve your characters if you’re personalizing, choose a term length, and pay. The plates are manufactured and mailed to you, and you install them on the vehicle when they arrive.

General-issue plates can only be transferred to passenger vehicles and trucks weighing one ton or less, so if you drive something heavier, check the plate you’re ordering against the vehicle class before you pay.¹

Replacing Lost, Stolen, or Damaged Plates

If your plates are lost, stolen, or too worn to read, you order replacements through your county tax assessor-collector’s office using Form VTR-60 (Application for Replacement License Plates and/or Vehicle Registration Sticker). The fee is $6.50: $6 for the plates and a $0.50 automation fee.¹

Texas dropped its mandatory seven-year replacement cycle in November 2016, so plates no longer expire on a set schedule. You only need to order replacements when they’re physically damaged or unreadable.¹ If yours were stolen, file a police report. It documents that someone else may be using your plate number and protects you if the plates turn up in connection with other activity.

When You Don’t Need to Order New Plates

If you’re buying or selling a vehicle and already have Texas plates, you can transfer them instead of ordering a new set. The transfer is free and protects you from liability if someone drives your old car before re-registering it.¹ Transfers work in several situations:

Between two vehicles you own: bring the plates and paperwork to the county tax office for a new sticker
To a vehicle bought from a dealer: remove your plates and ask the dealer to transfer them
To a vehicle bought from a private seller: register the plates when you title the vehicle at the county tax office
To a leased vehicle

Again, general-issue plates transfer only to passenger vehicles and light trucks (one ton or less).¹ If you want a fresh design or a personalized combination for the new vehicle, that’s when you place a specialty order instead.

1
Texas Department of Motor Vehicles. License Plates
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My Plates. Pricing
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Texas Department of Motor Vehicles. Texas Supports Disabled Veterans
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Texas Department of Motor Vehicles. For Our Troops
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Texas Department of Insurance. Auto Insurance Guide
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Texas Department of Motor Vehicles. Register Your Vehicle
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Texas Department of Motor Vehicles. Buying or Selling a Vehicle
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Texas Department of Public Safety. Vehicle Safety Inspection Changes Take Effect January 2025
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Texas Commission on Environmental Quality. Vehicle Emissions Inspections in Texas
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Texas Department of Public Safety. DPS Reminds Texans of Upcoming Emissions Test Requirement in Bexar County
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Texas Department of Motor Vehicles. County Tax Offices
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Texas Department of Motor Vehicles. New to Texas
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Texas Department of Motor Vehicles. Vehicle Title and Registration Information for New Texans